Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 77. Sunrise is 6:52 and sunset is 6:35, for 11 hours, 43 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 65.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM.
On this day in 1971, Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida.
Chris Taylor is running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and after incumbent Rebecca Bradley decided against running for reelection, Maria Lazar declared her candidacy yesterday:
Lazar’s announcement came a month after Bradley said she wasn’t seeking reelection. In the statement announcing her decision, Bradley called on the conservative movement to “take stock of its failures, identify the problem, and fix it.”
Lazar, 61, has been on the Waukesha-based District 2 Court of Appeals since 2022. She previously served as a Waukesha County judge, an assistant attorney general under Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, and as an attorney in private practice.
She is entering an open race for a seat on the court that’s controlled 4-3 by liberals.
Taylor, who launched her bid in May, will have the support of Democrats. She is a judge on the Madison-based District 4 Court of Appeals.
It’s unclear whether other candidates will get in the race.
Taylor’s campaign has reported raising more than $1 million and was sitting on more than $500,000 by June 30. Lazar reported having only about $1,000 in her campaign account in her last report.
See Mary Spicuzza, Maria Lazar launches Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign, taking over conservative lane from Rebecca Bradley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 1, 2025.
A few remarks:
The spring general election for the court is in April 2026. While others might enter the race, Taylor and Lazar are likely to be the leading candidates.
It’s a nonpartisan race, yet it’s not. Taylor is the WisDems’ candidate and Lazar the WISGOP’s candidate.
Lazar will raise enough to get on television, as there are plenty of conservative donors inside and outside Wisconsin ready to spend.
Pending Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions will affect the April election, notably among them any final decisions on Act 10 and congressional district boundaries. Even so, we live in a nationalized political environment; national events are sure to play a significant role in voter turnout and preferences next year.
Best guess: this race favors Taylor, though not prohibitively so.
Chunk, a 1,200-pound bear with a broken jaw, wins Alaska’s Fat Bear Week contest: